Main events scheduled in Japan for Tuesday, Dec. 15:

-- Tachikawa branch of Tokyo District Court to hand down ruling on Takahiro Shiraishi, indicted over 2017 serial murder of nine people who had posted suicidal thoughts on social media, at 2 p.m.

-- Tokyo District Court to hand down ruling on Akihito Awaji, supporter of Japanese lawmaker Tsukasa Akimoto, and company executive Fumihiko Sato, over allegations of offering witnesses money to give false court testimony in connection with casino graft scandal, at 4 p.m.

-- New medical center to open in Osaka for patients showing serious coronavirus symptoms.

==Kyodo

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